European Union regulators fined Microsoft 280.5 million euros ($357.3 million) on Wednesday for defying a 2004 antitrust ruling, and warned the company to comply or face bigger fines from next month.
The tough new penalty is the first of its kind and comes on top of a record 497 million euro fine the Commission imposed in its landmark antitrust decision against Microsoft in March 2004.
“The EU Commission cannot allow such illegal conduct to continue indefinitely. No company is above the law. Each and every company, large or small, operating in the EU must abide by EU law,” Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes told reporters.
The Commission required Microsoft to provide technical information to rival server software makers after it found the company abused the dominance of its Windows operating system and squeezed out competitors.
